I have. And won’t do it again. But I’ll say this, your payment method sounds about as safe as you can make it. Now advice, I’m sure the purchase price is not small money, so why not buy a cheap flight and go look at the car before you make a big money decision.
as of right now money is tight to make this happen and because of the holidays a flight there and back would be at least 1000. a flight there and drive back would be tough considering the weather (season) .